Arrangement for transmitting a rotary drive to and supporting a spindle



June 26, 1962 R. s. GILCZHRIST ET AL 3,040,511

- ARRANGEMENT FOR TRANSMITTING A ROTARY DRIVE TO AND SUPPORTING A SPINDLE 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 18, 1960 June 1962 R s. GILCHRIST ETAL 3,040,511

ARRANGEMENT FOR TRANSMITTING A ROTARY DRIVE TO AND SUPPORTING A SPINDLE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Feb. 18, 1960 52 v r. /0 40 f June 26, 1962 R. s. GILCHRIST ETAL 3,040,511

ARRANGEMENT FOR TRANSMITTING A ROTARY DRIVE TO AND SUPPORTING A SPINDLE Filed Feb. 18. 1960 s Sheets-Sheet a I :vdewm:

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4 rranue X5 United States Patent 3,040,511 ARRANGEMENT FOR TRANSMITTING A RGTARY DRIV E TO AND SUPPORTING A SPINDLE Reginald Selby Gilchrist, and Denis Albert Edward Mattingly, London, England, assigncrs' to The Klinger Manufacturing Company Limited, London, England, a

British company Filed Feb. 18, 1960, Ser. No. 9,598 6 Claims. (Cl. 5777.45)

This invention relates to an arrangement for transmitting a rotary drive to and for supporting a spindle particularly which carries a head for imparting a false twist to a yarn made from continuous filaments in order to give bulk to the yarn. The rate at which yarn can be twisted is limited at present by the maximum speed of rotation permitted by conventional bearings for the spindle on which the twisting head is mounted, and the present invention has an object to provide an arrange ment for driving and supporting the twisting head spindle permitting higher speeds of rotation for the twisting head.

According to this invention an arrangementfor transmitting a drive to and supporting a spindle comprises a number of sets preferably two sets of wheels, the wheels in each set being mounted to rotate about the same axis and axially spaced from one another and the axis of rotation of one set of wheels being parallel with the axis of rotation of the'ot-her set thereby providing supporting locations for the spindle which are spaced apart circumferentially and along it, means for pressing said spindle against said supporting locations, means for preventing or limiting axial movement of the spindle and means for driving at least one of said wheels.

The wheels in each set may be of the same diameter and the wheels of one 'set may be of the same diameter or of a different diameter to those of the other set.

In one construction according to the invention the wheels of one set are fixed to a driving shaft and the wheels of the other pair are mounted on a parallel idler shaft. Each of the driving wheels is preferably encircled by a resilient friction material which engages said spindle.

The means for pressing the spindle against the supporting locations may comprise a further wheel, this further wheel is mounted so as to be movable towards and away from the supporting locations and is spring urged into engagement with said spindle.

:In an alternative arrangement the means for pressing the spindle against the supporting locations may comprise a tensioned wire cord or band which engages the spindle.

The spindle may be so shaped that its engagement with the means for pressing it against said surfaces restrains the spindle against axial movement by reason of the fact said means is itself restrained against axial move ment and the diameters of which wheels are large compared with that of the spindle.-

. The spindle may be formed with a circumferential groove which may be engaged by a peripheral portion either of said further Wheel or by said wire cord or band.

In an alternative arrangement instead of the spindle being restrained against axial movement by the means which presses it against the supporting location it may be restrained against axial movement by magnetic means. In any of the arrangements referred to above two wheels may be provided in each set. The two driving wheels as viewed in side elevation may have parts thereof disposed between the other pair of wheels and the aforesaid further wheel as viewed in side elevation may have a part thereof disposed between the wheels of said other pair. The aforesaid two pairs of wheels may be Patented June 26, 1962 geared together to rotate in the same direction at the same peripheral speed. The spindle may be hollow and may have attached thereto a spinning head.

The spinning head may comprise a cup-shaped member across which extends a pin so that the yarn can pass through the spindle and be looped around the pin. A number of spindles and twisting heads and associated pairs of wheels may be spaced apart along the length of the machine and the shaft carrying the driving Wheels are arranged in line and have fixed thereto pulleys which are engaged by one stretch of an endless belt which extends along the length of the machine in known manner.

The following is a description of a false twisting apparatus such as is referred to above reference being made to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIGURE 1 is a vertical section through the mechanism on the section line 11 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 2 is a horizontal section through the mechanism on the section line 22 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side elevation of the mechanism looking from the left of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 4 shows a complete false twisting apparatus to which the invention is applied.

The mechanism shown in the drawing is arranged to support two spindles 37 and associated spinning heads 40. A number of such mechanisms are disposed apart along the length of the machine and each mechanism is supported on the frame of the machine by a bracket 10. The bracket has pivotally mounted on it two supporting plates 11 and 12 spaced apart one above the other which are fixed respectively to upright shafts 8 and 9 which oscillate in bearings in the bracket. Each of the plates 11 and 12 has two housings 13- and 17 secured to it inwhich are rotatably mounted shafts 1-5 and 18 by suitable bearings 7 and 6. A third shaft 16 is mounted in a hearing similar to the bearing 47 shown associated with the shaft 16 on the upper plate 12. The housing 17 carrying the shaft 18 extends loosely through a hole 19 on the supporting plate. The housing is secured to an arm 20 which is pivotally mounted at 21 on the supporting plate 11 and is drawn by a spring 22 towards the other two shafts 15 and 16. The shaft 15 has secured to it a sleeve 23 by means of a screw 24 and secured to opposite ends of the sleeve by screws 27, 28 are two wheels 25 and 26 formed from plastic. The shaft 16 has formed integrally with it a flange 29 and fixed to the shaft on opposite sides of the flange by screws and nuts 30 and 31 are two steel wheels 32 which are encircled by rubber tires 33. It will be noted from FIGURES 1 and 2 that the wheels 32 have parts thereof arranged between the Wheels 25 and 26. The shaft 18 has secured to it by means of a screw 34 a hub portion 35 to which is fixed a further wheel 36 formed from plastic by means of screws 57. This wheel is located midway between the two wheels 25 and 26 and also midway between the two wheels 32 and has a part thereof projecting radially inwards beyond the circumferences.

The spindle 37 is located between these various wheels so that it is engaged at two locations by the two rubber tires 33 and at two other locations it is engaged by the wheels 25 and 26. It is pressed against these locations by the wheel 36 which is drawn towards those locations by the aforesaid spring 22. The spindle is provided with an enlargement formed with a circumferential V groove 38, the sides of which groove subtend equal angles to a transverse plane and are engaged by a rounded peripheral portion v39 of the wheel 36 so that the V groove is engaged at two points at equal distances from the axis of rotation of the spindle and thus the spindle is constrained against axial movement and little or no slip takes place between spindle and the wheel.

Each of the shafts 16 in the various mechanisms along the length of the machine has secured to it a pulley 49 which is engaged by one stretch of an endless belt which extends along the length of the machine and each pulley 49 is urged towards the belt by a spring 4 which swings the plate 11 about the axis of the upright shaft 8. It will thus be seen that the pulleys 49 engage with opposite sides of the stretch of the belt 5. The plate may be swung away from the belt by hand and is held in its outer position by a detent lever 3 which may be swung in a direction to release the plate when required.

The spindle 37 is hollow and has an enlarged cupshaped part 40 formed with a diametrical slot 41 forming limbs across which extend a cross bar 42. The cross bar is formed from artificial sapphire or other hard material e.g. tungsten carbide and has a circumferential groove at its centre. The yarn is passed up through the hollow spindle and is wound around the groove in the cross bar in a single convolution.

Secured over each supporting plate 11 is a cover 43 by means of screws 44.

The wheel 32 associated with the plate 12 is mounted on a somewhat longer shaft 16 which extends through a bearing housing 45 fixed to the supporting plate and containing a ball bearing 46 and a needle bearing 47 which latter encircles a tubular distance piece 48. This distance piece forms the inner race of the bearing 47. The upper end of the distance piece abuts the inner race of the bearing 46. The lower end of the shaft 16 is provided with the pulley 49 which is inline with the first said pulley 49.

A yarn guide 52 may be secured to each of the covers 43 as shown.

As indicated earlier in the specification various modifications may be made as to details of the construction. For example, instead of providing an additional wheel 36 there may be employed a wire, cord or band suitably tensioned and which engages the circumferential groove in the spindle 37. Also instead of the wheels 25 and 26 being idler wheels, they may be geared to the wheels 32 so as to rotate in the same direction and at the same peripheral speed.

In yet a further arrangement, instead of the spindle being supported against axial movement byan additional wheel or by a wire, cord or band it may be restrained against axial movement by magnetic means. Thus a peripheral flange may be formed on the spindle which flange is under the influence of a magnetic pole arranged to retain the spindle in the cradle accorded by the overlapping wheels. In preferred arrangements a plurality of pole pieces are spaced along the shaft, adjacent poles having opposite polarities, and a corresponding number of peripheral flanges are provided on the spindle adjacent the pole pieces. In one such arrangement a horseshoe type magnet is disposed near the shaft and has eachof its poles provided with finger-like extensions, the fingers from the two poles alternating with each other lengthwise of the shaft, the fingers of one pole preferably being intercalated with those of the other pole.

In such arrangements it is necessary to make the spindle as short as possible in order to minimise the bending of the spindle due to magnetic forces.

In alternative arrangements in which the tendency of the spindle to bend is minimised, the wheel or wheels on one of said shafts form part of said magnetic means to retain the spindle in position. Thus a wheel on said one shaft may be sandwiched between two discs of smaller diameter which are magnetised so that the two faces of each disc have opposite polarities, like poles of the two discs facing each other, the spindle having a peripheral flange formed thereon adjacent the wheel. A plurality of wheels may be provided on the said one shaft alternating with such disc magnets, whereof like poles face each other, so that each wheel on the shaft has a polarity opposite to that of the adjacent wheel or wheels, the assembly of wheels and magnets being clamped together Lil.

4- and the spindle having peripheral flanges to co-operate with the respective said wheels.

The assembly of wheels and disc-magnets may be coated with plastic or rubber in order to improve the grip of the wheels on the spindle for driving purposes.

It is found that where such magnetic means are used for retaining the spindle against endwise movement or displacement away from the wheel shaft, overheating of the spindle due to the formation of eddy currents occurs and such overheating may be minimised by forming the spindle from a material such as ferrite, having a high resistance to eddy currents.

Rotational speeds of the spindle and twisting head of about 250,000 r.p.m., have been obtained with arrangements according to the invention and at even these high speeds the spindle remained quite stable. It will be seen that with a ratio of the diameter of the wheels to that of the spindle of 20:1, the speed of rotation of the wheels is then only 12,500 r.p.m.

FIGURE 4 shows a complete false twisting apparatus to which the invention may be applied.

Two yarns 53, 54 are drawn off packages 55, 56 by a winding apparatus 64, 69 at the upper end of the machine and referred to later. The two yarns pass through wire tensioning devices 57 and then around rotatable discs indicated generally at 58 which are slotted to provide tongues which are bent alternately out of the planes of the discs providing edges which grip the yarn, and rotation of which discs is restrained by adjustable magnetic means 77 so the extent of restraint may be varied. The two yarns then pass through an electro-rnagnetically operated guillotine 59 which is controlled by a sensing device indicated generally at 63 higher up in the apparatus and which guillotine may be isolated from a source of electric supply when the two yarns are taken up on separate bobbins 72, 73 but which is connected in circuit with the source of supply when both yarns are wound on a single bobbin.

After leaving the guillotine the yarns pass around a guide 60 over a tongue 61 in good thermal contact with a tube which is heated by the passage through it of hot oil which oil is heated by passing over a heating element within the tube. The two yarns then pass through false twisting heads indicated generally at 62 which false twists them in opposite senses as described earlier in this specification. After leaving the spinning heads each yarn passes over a resilient wire-sensing element 65 and then over a guide 78 fixed to an arm 66 which carries a nip roller 69 around which the yarn is wound. The two arms are drawn together by a spring 67 whereby the rollers 69 are pressed into engagement with a driving roller 64 constituting a part of the aforesaid winding mechanism drawing the yarns through the apparatus at the required rate. When both yarns are being wound on a single bobbin should either of the yarns break, then the M sensing element 65 associated with it swings into engagement with a contact 70 on an arm 66 which closes the electric circuit in which the guillotine is disposed thus actuating the guillotine and cutting theunbroken yarn and also illuminating the warning light 79. In the case where the two yarns are being wound each on a bobbin as shown in the drawing the guillotine as indicated earlier is cut out of circuit while the warning light remains in circuit. The bobbins 72, 73 (as shown in the drawing) are each driven by a wheel 74 having a cork rim which engages the yarn on the bobbin direct. The yarn is laid on a bobbin by a reciprocating guide 76. The various guides 76 are secured to a stretch of a light endless cable which passes around pulleys at the ends of the apparatus and one of the pulleys is oscillated by a cam mechanism in such a manner that the rate of travel in each direction is the same and so that there is an instantaneous changeover at the ends of the stroke.

We claim:

1. An arrangement for transmitting a drive to and supporting a spindle, comprising an idler shaft mounted in fixed bearings, two idler wheels spaced apart and fixed to the idler shaft, a driving sha-ftsu-pported in a fixed bearing so as to be parallel to the idler shaft, two driving wheels spaced apart at a lesser distance than the spacing of the idler wheels and fixed to the driving shaft which two shafts are so located that parts of the driving wheels project between the idler wheels, a spindle in engagement with the rims of the idler and driving wheels and having a circumferential groove arranged for disposal opposite a gap provided by the spacing of the driving wheels, another idler shaft mounted in a bearing symmetrically disposed with respect to the other shafts and movable towards and away therefrom, a locating wheel fixed to the latter idler shaft and engageable with the circumferential groove in said spindle, resilient means urging said locating wheel into said groove, and means constraining the third shaft against axial movement.

'2. An arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the parts of said locating wheel on each side of the groove in said spindle projects between the two idler wheels and between the two driving wheels.

3. An arrangementaccording to claim lqwherein each said driving wheel is encircled by a resilient friction track.

4. An arrangementaccording to claim 1 wherein said driving shaft has fixed to it a pulley engageable with a driving belt and the bearings for the idler and driving shafts are mounted on a supporting plate pivotally mounted on a bracket so that the pulley may be swung into and out of engagement with said belt, and wherein spring means are arranged to urge the supporting plate to maintain engagement of the pulley with the belt and detent means are provided for releasably holding the plate at the other limit of its movement, and the bearing for the shaft supporting the -locating wheel is fixed to an arm pivotally mountedon the supporting plate and a spring is connected between it and the plate.

5. An arrangement according to claim 1 wherein the assemblage of parts are duplicated one above the other and the two driving shafts have fixed to their lower ends pulleys engageable with opposite sides of a stretch of an endless driving belt, and wherein in each assemblage the idler and driving shafts are mounted on a supporting plate pivotally mounted on a bracket common to both assemblages so that each pulley may be swung into and out of engagement with said belt, and wherein spring means are arranged to urge the supporting plate to maintain engagement of the pulley with the belt and detent means are provided for releasably holding the plate at the other limit of its movement, and the bearing for the shaft supporting the locating wheel is fixed to an arm pivotally mounted on the supporting plate and a spring is connected between it and the plate.

6. A false twisting apparatus embodying a number of duplicated assemblages of parts according to claim 5 spaced apart along the length of the apparatus, which apparatus is provided with a motor driven endless belt one of the stretches of which is engageable with all said pulleys, and wherein each of said spindles is tubular and has a twisting head at the upper end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 687,428 Heinze Nov. 26, 1901 2,557,104 Hegedus June 19, 1951 2,807,130 Trapido et a1. Sept. 24, 1957 2,810,254 Buchanan Oct. 22, 1957 2,855,750 Schrenk et a1. Oct. 14, 1958 2,939,269 Dobson June 7, 1960 2,949,723 Schrenk et a1. Aug. 23, 1960 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,159,884 France Feb. 17, 194-8 650,950 Great Britain Mar. 7, 1951 

